2014 AD100: Thierry Despont Ltd.

Few can rival Thierry Despont in his mastery of muscular grandeur. With his captivatingly confident style, the French-born, New York–based architect, interior designer, and artist has attracted a heady clientele that includes Bill Gates and Calvin Klein. Despont has also left his mark on the historic Lambs Club in Manhattan (red leather banquettes, ebonized paneling, chrome accents) and embellished the decorative-arts galleries of Richard Meier’s minimalist Getty Center in Los Angeles (walls of jewel-tone silks). Among his choice hospitality commissions are refined makeovers of such august hotels as the Carlyle in New York, and Claridge’s and the Dorchester, both in London. One of his most hotly awaited projects is a sweeping redo of the hallowed Paris Ritz, slated to be unveiled in late 2014. despont.com